Doors formed of sections hinged together and guided for vertical movement



Sept. 13, 1960 I P. A. CLARK 2,952,314

' DOORS FORMED OF SECTIONS HINGED TOGETHERMAND GUIDED FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT 1 Filed March 31, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 II. 7 J

I j x "a 2 I I 1 64 66 15 76 /H/ 36 4- I I fil 1 4 l l INVENTOR PAUL ASA CLARK BY W* ATTORNEYS Sept. 13, 1960 P. A. CLARK 2,952,314 DOORS FORMED OF SECTIONS HINGED TOGETHER AND GUIDED FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT 2 Shee ts-Sheet 2 Filed March 31, 1958 INVENTOR PAUL ASA CLARK BY Wall ATTORNEYS United States Patent C DOORS FORMED OF SECTIONS HINGED TO- GETHER AND GUIDED FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT Paul Asa Clark, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to Industridoor, Inc., Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Filed Mar. 31, 1958, Ser. No. 725,179

11 Claims. (Cl. 160--229) The invention relates to the structure of doors and particularly to doors formed of sections hinged together and guided for vertical movement.

The primary object to the invention is to provide a door intended especially to hold glass panels in which the intermediate rails and the vertical muntins are quite narrow, so as to interfere as little as possible with vision through the door and to permit as. much light as is practical.

Another object of the invention is to provide a door of this type in which the structure serves both for preventing rain from blowing through the door and also for collecting condensation on the inside of the door and directing it to the outside.

A further object of the invention is to provide a structure of this type in which the hinges between the door sections are so constructed as to be invisible from the outside of the door.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a door structure which is light weight and inexpensive, while at the same time it is sufiiciently sturdy to stand up under usage.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows in front elevation a door embodying my invention;

Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are cross-sections on the lines 2'2, 3-3, 4-4, 55, 66 and 7-7 respectively of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 8 shows in perspective view a glazing clip.

The door includes a top rail 2 which is formed as shown in Fig. 2 with a lower horizontal section 4 having a downwardly turned inner edge 6.

The lower member of each door section, except the bottom one, as shown in Fig. 3, includes a horizontal part 8, an upwardly bent part 10 on the face of the door, an inwardly bent horizontal part 12 and an upwardly bent inner part 14.

The top member of each door section, except the top one, is likewise shown in Fig. 3. It includes a horizontal part 16, which is adapted to fit against the part 8 of the top section when the door is in vertical or straight line position. This part extends inwardly beyond the part 8 and has at its inner end an upwardly bent part 18. It likewise has a downwardly bent part 20 at the front of the door from which a horizontal part 22 extends inward, this part being shorter than part 16 and having at its inner end a downwardly bent part 24.

The two sections are hinged together by the arrangement shown in Fig. 3. The hinge pivot is indicated at 26 and from it extends forwardly and then downwardly and again forwardly the part 28 which overlies the part 8 of the bottom rail. This is welded or otherwise secured thereto. Also pivoted on part 26 is a downwardly extending part 30 which is secured by bolt 32 to horizontal 'ice part 34 which extends beyond part 16 and is likewise welded or otherwise secured thereto. It will be noted that the hinge occupies less vertical space than the space between the upper and lower parts 14 and 24 respectively and is therefore concealed from view behind the solid parts when the door is in its vertical position.

The bottom of the lowest glass-holding panel is shown in Fig. 4. It includes a horizontal portion 42 having at its front edge an upwardly bent part 44 which carries a rearwardly directed horizontal part 46 the rear edge of which is bent upwardly at 48.

The bottom panel of the door may be formed as a solid sheet 36 having its upper end bent inwardly at 38 and then upwardly at 40, as in Fig. 4. The bottom of sheet 36 ('Fig. 5) is bent inwardly at 50. A bottom member has a horizontal section 52 which underlies part 50 and is welded thereto. Part 52 is bent upwardly and forwardly at 54, and has a vertically arranged upper end 56 which is welded to the inner face of plate 36. On the lower side of plate 52 is secured a rubber sealing member 58'.

All of the panels of the door, except the bottom one, are intended to hold panes of glass 60. This pane is secured in position and sealed by the arrangement shown in Fig. 3. The sealing arrangement includes a glazing clip shown in perspective in Fig. 8 and composed of a horizontal part 62 having upwardly extending legs 64 and 66. Leg 66 has tabs 68 extending upwardly from its upper edge. This clipis positioned in use, as shown in Fig. 3, with its longer leg 66 resting against the vertical portions 14 and 24 of the bottom and top rails of the panels. A channel member formed of rubber or other resilient material is also used. This has a horizontal portion 70 with upwardly extending legs 72 and 74 and a downwardly inclined extension 76 from leg 74.

In assembling, the rubber strip is applied with its channel over the edge of the glass pane 60. The glazing clip is then applied over the rubber strip, and the pane slid into position after which tabs 68 are bent over the back of the parts 14 and 24 to hold the pane in position. Part 76 then provides a seal by the engagement of its free edge with the parts 12 and 22 respectively in Fig. 3. It provides a similar seal on the muntins and side stiles which are described below.

With such an arrangement, the horizontal rails can be made thin and yet they are strong because of the flanges with which they are provided. If any rain blows through the space between the parts 8 and 16, which is the only opening in the door, this rain will be prevented from entering the space inside the door by vertical member 18. At the same time, any condensation which is formed on the inside of the glass pane 60 will drop down and be caught by the horizontal channel formed by member 18 and thus will not drip into the area behind the door but will instead pass out between members 8 and 16 to the outside.

The vertical muntins are constructed in general as shown in Fig. 6. They include U-shaped members 78' having outwardly bent free ends 80 with which the glazing clips 62 and rubber strips 70 are arranged in the same manner as in the horizontal strips.

The side stiles, as shown in Fig. 7, are composed of a first U-shaped part 82 having an inwardly bent flange 84 and a second part 86 welded to flange 84 and to the outside of the opposite leg of part 82. This last part has an outwardly bent part 88 in the plane of flanges 6, 14 etc., and the glass panes are held against and sealed to these flanges in the same manner. Bearings 90 for the shafts of guiding wheels 92 are bolted on the back or inner faces of the stiles.

This structure has the further advantage that, when the door is raised to a horizontal overhead position, the

glass panes rest on flanges 6, 14, 24, 80 and 68, and are not dependent on the glazing clips to prevent their falling out.

The door is mounted in the usual manner by rollers or the like moving in guides at each side.

While I have described herein one embodiment of my invention, I wish itto be understood that I do not intend to limit myself thereby except within the scope of the claims hereto or hereinafter appended.

I claim:

1. A panel for overhead doors having an upper rail formed to include a horizontal portion having at its inner end an upwardly turned flange having a free edge, said rail having at its lower side a downwardly turned flange closer to the front side of the panel than said upwardly turned flange and a part connecting said downwardly turned flange to said horizontal portion, and a lower rail having a horizontal portion shorter than the horizontal portion of the upper rail terminating in a free edge at a point intermediate the width of the panel, whereby, when said panel is positioned between similar upper and lower panels, the upper face of the horizontal portion of the upper rail faces and receives the lower face of the horizontal portion of the lower rail of the panel above, while the lower face of the horizontal portion of the lower rail faces and is received by the upper face of the horizontal portion of the upper rail of the panel below, said lower rail having an upwardly directed flange above and spaced from said horizontal portions in the plane of the downwardly directed flange of the upper rail, and a part connecting said last upwardly directed flange to said horizontal portion of the lower rail, said panel structure providing an open space between the upwardly turned flanges of the upper and lower rails of adjacent panels when two panels are hinged together one above the other, whereby condensation collecting on the inside of each panel can collect in front of the upwardly turned flange of the upper rail of the next lower panel and can escape outwardly between the facing horizontal portions.

2. A panel as claimed in claim 1 having glass panes resting substantially against the front faces of the downwardly directed flange of the upper rail and the upwardly directed flange of the lower rail, and means holding said glass pane against said flanges.

3. A panel as claimed in claim 2 having a sealing member of resilient material provided with a channel in which the edge of the glass pane is seated between the pane and the flange.

4. A panel as claimed in claim 3 having a glas holding clip provided with a channel in which said sealing member is seated and having a holding tab bent over the flange.

5. A panel as claimed in claim 2 having a glass holding clip provided-with a channel in which the edge of the glass pane is seated and having a holding tab bent over the flange.

6. A door comprising a plurality of panels as claimed in claim 1 arranged one above the other, and hinge means on the inside-of the door connecting said panels along horizontal lines, said hinge means having a vertical extent less than the distance between the lower edge of the downwardly directed flange of the upper rail and the upper edge of the upwardly directed flange of the lower rail and lying between the horizontal planes of such edges of the mating rails of adjacent panels.

7. A panel for overhead doors having an upper rail formed to include a horizontal portion having at its inner end an upwardly turned flange having a free edge, and having at its outer end a downwardly directed part, a second horizontal portion extending inwardly from the lower edge of said downwardly directedpart, said second horizontal portion having at its inner edge a downwardly turned flange closer to the front side of the panel than said upwardly turned flange, and a lower rail having a horizontal portion shorter than the horizontal portion of the upper rail terminating in a free edge at a point intermediate the width of the panel, whereby, when said panel is positioned between similar upper and lower panels, theupper' face ofthe horizontal portion of the upper rail faces and receives the lower face of the hori- Zontal portion of the lower rail of the panel above, while the lower face of the horizontal portion of the lower rail "faces and is received by the upper facevof the horizontal portion of the upper rail of-the panel below, said lower rail having an upwardly directed part at its outer end in the plane of the downwardly directed part of the upper rail, a horizontal portion extending inwardly from the upper edge of said last upwardly directed part having at its inner end an upwardly directed flange in the plane of the downwardly directed flange of the upper rail, said panel structure providing an open space between the upwardly turned flanges of the upper and lower rails of adjacent panels when two panels are hinged together one above the other, whereby condensation collecting on the inside of each panel can collect in front of the upwardly turned flange of the upper rail of the next lower panel and can escape outwardly between the facing horizontal portions.

8. A panel as claimed in claim 7 having glass panes resting substantially against the front faces of the downwardly directed flange of the upper rail and the upwardly directed flange of the lower rail, and means holding said glass pane against said flanges.

9. A panel as claimed in claim 8, having a sealing member of resilient material provided with a channel in which the edge of the glass pane is seated between the pane and the flange, and having an inclined extension from the outer side wall of the channel resting against the second horizontal portion of the rail.

10. A panel as claimed in claim 9 having a glass holding clip provided with a channel in which said sealing member is seated and having a holding tab bent over the flange.

11. A door comprising a plurality of panels as claimed in claim 7 arranged one above the other, and hinge means on the inside of the door connecting said panels along horizontal lines, said hinge means having a vertical extent less than the distance between the lower edge of the downwardly directed flange of the upper rail and the upper edge of the upwardly directed flange of the lower rail and lying between the horizontal planes of such edges of the mating rails of adjacent panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,061,304 Graham Nov. 17, 1936 2,197,761 Iohanns Apr. 23, 1940 2,261,038 Sherts Oct. 28, 1941 

